|
|
Post by dubber on Aug 26, 2014 9:42:16 GMT -6
Gentlemen,
I coach at West Washington High School. A small, rural school in southern Indiana.
This season we have 36 players 9-12. That is a little below our average, but not unusual.
What is unusual is we have 24 varsity caliber guys (testament to our off season program), and they all got 4 quarters Friday.
That leaves 12 for our JV games.
Now, what is interesting, is that NONE of those 12 are dead weight. Most of our 4 sophomores are expected to compete next season on Friday nights, and most of our 8 freshmen are future 2 year starters.
Last night was our first game. The heat index was over 100.
We are a no huddle, up tempo spread team, and I got many of the plays in before the play clock started.
We ended up winning 26-8.
This group may end up really impressing me, simply because there are no breaks (about 8 of our guys never saw the sidelines, ever), and they can keep the intensity up for the whole game.
I'll try to post weekly recaps of their Monday night games here.
Just thought this might be of interest to someone other than me. |
|
|
|
Post by huskerhoyahawk on Aug 26, 2014 16:15:23 GMT -6
That's awesome coach. Keep the updates coming
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using proboards
|
|
|
|
Post by coachklee on Aug 26, 2014 18:27:17 GMT -6
Great to here your success with extremely low numbers. At least you shouldn't have problems with too many men on the field...
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
|
|
|
|
Post by dubber on Aug 26, 2014 19:08:08 GMT -6
Great to here your success with extremely low numbers. At least you shouldn't have problems with too many men on the field... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Yeah, I just look over my shoulder and count to 1.
So, I am 5' 8'' and 290 lbs. I have dark hair and features and I sport a beard.
So, my JV guys are now calling us "Fat Jesus and the 12 Apostles"
|
|
|
|
Post by coachklee on Aug 26, 2014 21:59:38 GMT -6
Great to here your success with extremely low numbers. At least you shouldn't have problems with too many men on the field... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Yeah, I just look over my shoulder and count to 1.
So, I am 5' 8'' and 290 lbs. I have dark hair and features and I sport a beard.
So, my JV guys are now calling us "Fat Jesus and the 12 Apostles"
Does that 1 guy play some? Coached against an opponent who only dressed 12 that night and only 11 played. I'm not big on making sure all kids participate, but it is kind of obvious to that kid that he clearly isn't very good... |
|
|
|
Post by dubber on Aug 27, 2014 17:53:18 GMT -6
Yeah, I just look over my shoulder and count to 1.
So, I am 5' 8'' and 290 lbs. I have dark hair and features and I sport a beard.
So, my JV guys are now calling us "Fat Jesus and the 12 Apostles"
Does that 1 guy play some? Coached against an opponent who only dressed 12 that night and only 11 played. I'm not big on making sure all kids participate, but it is kind of obvious to that kid that he clearly isn't very good...
Yes, we played them all.
I did ask the kids on the bus ride home if they could imagine how bad a kid would have to suck to not play on a team of 12.
That got a laugh.
Update: We did have some parents express concerns over just having 12 kids for JV. They didn't understand how varsity and JV quarters, and thought more guys should have played (we have a ton of sophomores and they just assumed they should have played because they are younger).
It does look like we will have a few more guys. We are still pounding the hallways for a few more bodies, and a couple of sick kids this week will play JV because they are missing practice.
We will see.
|
|
|
|
Post by huskerhoyahawk on Aug 28, 2014 4:40:11 GMT -6
What's the rule for playing time? Six quarters?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using proboards
|
|
|
|
Post by dubber on Aug 28, 2014 9:00:44 GMT -6
What's the rule for playing time? Six quarters? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using proboards
If you use 4 on Friday, then you are done. Other than that, you get 5.
You can do 2 on Friday and 3 on Monday, or 3 on Friday and 2 Monday, etc.
It is designed this way so you can play JV in the 4th quarter of blow outs and still play 4 quarters on Monday.
|
|
|
|
Post by dubber on Sept 2, 2014 21:04:05 GMT -6
Second game was tonight.
Our numbers were at 14 tonight. We had a kid come out late, and another kid play down (he played 2 quarters Friday, and therefore had 3 to use).
They were both DL guys, and that definitely helped us, as we were able to rotate our guys out and get those guys a rest.
Offensively, we stayed with the same guys minus an occasional sub at split end.
All in all, about 8 of our guys played the entire game.
We ended up winning 38-6 tonight, mostly because we were faster than the other team.
I called IZ about 15 times for 50 yards. I called jet sweep about 15 times for over 200.
Our freshman QB is a big part of this. He throws smash as well as any freshman we've ever had, and does a good job distributing the football. Helps when we get the plays right.
Like I said in the first post, these kids are few in number, but they are fairly talented and tough.
Will keep posted.
|
|
|
|
Post by huskerhoyahawk on Sept 2, 2014 21:21:52 GMT -6
Very impressed coach, sounds like you have a special group. How many players do your opponents typically suit up?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using proboards
|
|
|
|
Post by dubber on Sept 3, 2014 10:40:43 GMT -6
Very impressed coach, sounds like you have a special group. How many players do your opponents typically suit up? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using proboards Usually mid-20's
What's nice about this group is there is really isn't dead weight.
All 8 freshmen contribute.
We have 3 offensive linemen that I could see being 2 year starters for us. One of them will probably start next year on varsity.
The freshman QB could play next year on Fridays at split or slot.
We have one freshman slot who has scored 6 TD's over these 1st two games.....he's a gamer.
The rest of the freshman skill players have all scored this season and made big plays rushing and receiving......they all need to get taller though. At 5' 8'' I those guys look up to me literally.
Our 4 sophomores are also very solid. The two skill guys play SE and Safety. There is a good chance they will be our starting safety unit next season.
The two OL guys play OT and DE. Those guys really linchpin the offense and defense. Jet sweep and sprint pass our best plays, and those guys are strong and fast enough to consistently set the edge.
On defense, they use that same skill set to keep contain and let the rest of our guys run.
At some point, I anticipate we will face a sophomore/junior laden team who will match our speed and be far stronger than us.
Right now though, they are a really fun group.
|
|
|
|
Post by dubber on Sept 8, 2014 20:32:27 GMT -6
Faced a heavy sophomore and junior squad tonight.
For those who know, we are about 70% freshmen on our JV team.
This team suited up about 28 players tonight to our 14.
We won 16-6 to go to 3-0 on the season.
Our freshman Q ran and threw for TD's tonight.
Our defense is really where we are making hay.......two sophomores at DE and a sophomore at Free Safety do an excellent job making plays.
Our offense went up against a much stronger defense tonight, and we had some trouble setting the edge at times. However, we could find some holes in the underneath coverage when we went trips, and finally got sweep (our best play) going not by the Jet, but with a simple QB sweep.
Like I said, I'll keep you all updated as we go along.
We may be back down to 13 players next week, as one of our DT's may start to see a little more P.T. on Fridays.
Fun group......these freshmen were 2-5 as 7th graders, killed themselves in the weight room and went 6-2 as 8th graders. Now as freshmen they are holding their own against older kids and deeper squads.
|
|
|
|
Post by huskerhoyahawk on Sept 9, 2014 10:06:22 GMT -6
Amazing. I love reading these updates. Sound like a great bunch of guys. How successful is your school usually? With kids this tough I would imagine you win frequently on the varsity level.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using proboards
|
|
|
|
Post by dubber on Sept 9, 2014 16:54:51 GMT -6
Amazing. I love reading these updates. Sound like a great bunch of guys. How successful is your school usually? With kids this tough I would imagine you win frequently on the varsity level. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using proboards Because of our size we will cycle. Usually .500 is the worse we do. Great youth program and weight training program helps us stay ahead of half the teams on our schedule regardless of talent. Our goal is to have 10-12 solid seniors (4 year buy in type guys) each class. When we have a senior class like that, we are usually in the hunt for conference and sectional titles. We view JV as a mechanism to prepare kids for varsity. When we have a larger JV roster, we rotate every kid on defense (equal reps) and rotate all the skill players on offense, but not OL guys (I don't feel it is fair to our QB to put a poorer player on the OL). We never talk about winning.......it is always A & E (attitude and effort). Those are the only things we can control, and those are the only things we expect to always be there. We were down 0-6 at halftime of this game, and my only points were "play with great effort and have a great attitude, I don't care if it is 6-0 or 60-0 we will do those things". I tell the QB I will never yell at him for interceptions, only for how he reacts to interceptions. We keep Mondays loose.....go have fun, A and E, and let the chips fall where they may. Our kids actually laugh when a coach on the other sidelines goes 3rd Reich on one of his players......they actually say, "doesn't he realize this is only JV?" That tells me they understand the point of JV, which is not winning football games on Mondays, but preparing to win football games on Friday. |
|
|
|
Post by huskerhoyahawk on Sept 12, 2014 21:11:12 GMT -6
Any openings on your staff? ;D ;D
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using proboards
|
|
|
|
Post by dubber on Sept 15, 2014 18:31:57 GMT -6
Any openings on your staff? ;D ;D Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using proboards Unpaid? lol |
|
|
|
Post by dubber on Sept 15, 2014 18:46:30 GMT -6
22-0 winners tonight. suited up 14 versus 24.
Defense was pretty dominate again.
We never really broke a jet sweep tonight, but we were consistently reading the blocks and making the cuts for solid yards.
Our freshman running back is growing up from a toughness standpoint. He is a very fast elusive kid that has been able to go barry sanders on a run and find a crease when he was in youth league and JH. First couple games on JV, he found out those windows get closed.
This game he finished his runs and ran through the defense. He found that pounding them early sets up big gainers late.
In the first couple of games, he would ask me to NOT run him because he was tired, etc. At the end of this game, he was signaling to me to run Inside Zone.
What was interesting to me was the kids attitude at halftime. We were up 8-0, and the kids started talking about how we were going to own the 2nd half. They said we were wearing them down, and how certain players on the other team were tired.
I got three players on the sidelines, and our kids are talking about wearing the other team down!
Toughness is the real reason we are 4-0.
|
|
|
|
Post by olcoach53 on Sept 16, 2014 18:07:18 GMT -6
This thread is awesome Coach! Keep up the great work! We have a JV team coming up this Thursday that hasn't lost in something like 4 or 5 years. Wish us luck!
|
|
|
|
Post by coachcotner on Sept 17, 2014 8:00:51 GMT -6
Big week for your Varsity this week coach good luck. Keep up the good work on the JV level. Your kids play very hard and smart.
|
|
|
|
Post by dubber on Sept 23, 2014 17:26:31 GMT -6
Dropped our first one last night, 22-16.
Normally this team rolls us, but we had the ball and a chance a couple of times.
14 souls to start the game.....13 finished it. The other team was 20+ again.
Kids were up beat afterwards.....they really buy in to what we preach: Attitude and Effort, not the scoreboard is what counts.
Next week we will face a team in it's first season of JV football. They do not play a varsity schedule, so ALL their kids play JV.
It should be interesting.....I don't think they have faced a spread no huddle attack yet, and we will take every advantage we can get going 13 vs. 50+.
Thanks for all the comments so far guys, this group is fun and I enjoy having a venue to share this experience.
|
|
|
|
Post by coachcotner on Sept 24, 2014 7:58:22 GMT -6
Dropped our first one last night, 22-16. Normally this team rolls us, but we had the ball and a chance a couple of times. 14 souls to start the game.....13 finished it. The other team was 20+ again. Kids were up beat afterwards.....they really buy in to what we preach: Attitude and Effort, not the scoreboard is what counts. Next week we will face a team in it's first season of JV football. They do not play a varsity schedule, so ALL their kids play JV. It should be interesting.....I don't think they have faced a spread no huddle attack yet, and we will take every advantage we can get going 13 vs. 50+. Thanks for all the comments so far guys, this group is fun and I enjoy having a venue to share this experience. Who would this new program be? |
|
|
|
Post by coachrdc on Sept 24, 2014 11:17:41 GMT -6
It is great to see another coach from Indiana on here! Keep it up coach!
|
|
|
|
Post by coachirish on Sept 24, 2014 19:47:10 GMT -6
It is great to see another coach from Indiana on here! Keep it up coach! What parts of Indiana are you from? |
|
|
|
Post by dubber on Sept 29, 2014 21:34:30 GMT -6
Wow....just wow.
We rolled with 12 tonight, 7 of those were freshmen. Before halftime we lost our OG and finished the second half with 11 iron men.
The team we played tonight does not play a varsity schedule. So of their roster of 45, there was no small amount of juniors and seniors.
We ended up losing 22-24.
We were down 16-0 in the first quarter, and I was worried we were going to pack it in, but this group of kids is the toughest I have ever coached, without equivocation.
We housed the kickoff to make it 16-8 at half.
We onside to start the second half, and get it.
We then proceed to pound the rock (out of 10 personnel) en route to making it 16-16. Our running back, who has talent and speed, but who early in the year would dance in the hole, was running and driving his feet on contact. He has really bought in.
They scored late in the 4th quarter to make it 24-16. There are about 70 seconds left on the clock.
We have the ball at midfield with a little over a minute left, and I called IZ.
I actually had to signal it three times, because my kids couldn't believe I called it in that situation.
Thing was, they were in man 2, and my running back was the fastest kid on the field.
He housed it (and now the kids think I am genius).
So it is 24-22, and we are going for two. From my angle, I thought my running back got in (our crowd certainly thought so too).
First time all season I put my foot in an official's rear........I know this somewhat petty, but I have a parent with film of the play. If I was wrong, that crew will get my apology letter. If I was right, I will ask them to write one to my kids.
At any rate, we recovered the onside kick and have about 50 seconds.
We go FIN and GO and our split end got the CB to bite (I am thinking 6), and then proceeded to run right into him.
Our QB overthrows and it gets picked.
After the game, their head coach tells me, "You told me you only had 12 guys on the phone, but you didn't tell me you had 12 @ss kickers!"
The chain crew actually shook our hands and complimented us on our guts.
I told them I know it hurts to lose, but that tonight they probably won a future championship. The type of fortitude and toughness they showed tonight will translate into Varsity championships. I told them they were to toughest SOB's I ever coached.
Then, I told them to pick up the sidelines (I am anal about any trash being left on the sidelines when we visit), grab the equipment, and get on the bus.
Very cool group......
|
|
|
|
Post by olcoach53 on Sept 30, 2014 17:40:07 GMT -6
I think it is awesome the compliments you are getting from not only the opposition but the chain crew as well. Keep up the great work coach!
|
|
|
|
Post by dubber on Oct 6, 2014 19:09:24 GMT -6
Tonight's game was cancelled due to lightening.
Current record is 4-2 with one game to go.
|
|
|
|
Post by dubber on Oct 18, 2014 7:56:55 GMT -6
Well, our numbers finally caught up with us.
We had to cancel our last game due to numbers. A couple of injuries, one kid failed off, etc.
Ended up 4-2, lost our 2 games by an average of 3 points.
Neat group. I am very proud.
I will be sure to give them their due at our banquet. Thanks for all for followed this thread, you added to my enjoyment of this JV season.
|
|
